End-of-railway-car cushioning installation

ABSTRACT

A railway car includes a center sill having at opposite ends thereof an end-of-car cushion installation, each including a hydraulic cushioning device having a cylinder retained in a cushion pocket by a fixed stop comprising a pair of transversely aligned apertures in a center sill with a stop block carried in said apertures and welded to said sill. The cylinder includes a base plate which is secured between said stop block and a pair of removable stop brackets on said sill. A yoke and coupler arrangement includes a laterally projecting wall which with a pair of removable stop brackets on opposite sides of the yoke forms a pair of spring pockets in which leaf springs are supported and which after a draft impact return the device to a neutral position.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Willis H. Knippel Palos Park, 111.;Marvin Stark, Michigan City, Ind. [21] Appl. No. 799,337 [221 Filed Feb.14,1969 [45] Patented June 8, 1971 [73] Assignee Pullman IncorporatedChicago, Ill.

[54] END-OF-RAILWAY-CAR CUSHIONING INSTALLATION 2 Claims, 4 DrawingFigs.

[52] US. Cl 213/8, 2 l 3/46;54;56 [51] Int. Cl B6lg 9/02, 9/20 [50]Field of Search 213/8, 43, 54, 56, 25, 46

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,973,102 2/1961 Nystrom213/8 his RJFF IMPACT 3,164,262 l/1965 Price et al... 213/8 2,314,9543/1943 Simonson 213/8 3,399,787 9/1968 Zanow..... 2l3/8X 3,412,87011/1968 Rollins 213/8 Primary Examiner-Drayton E. HoffmanAttorneys-Hilmond O. Voge and Wayne Morris Russell ABSTRACT: A railwaycar includes a center sill having at opposite ends thereof an end-of-carcushion installation, each including a hydraulic cushioning devicehaving a cylinder retained in a cushion pocket by a fixed stopcomprising a pair of transversely aligned apertures in a center sillwith a stop block carried in said apertures and welded to said sill. Thecylinder includes a base plate which is secured between said stop blockand a pair of removable stop brackets on said sill. A yoke and couplerarrangement includes a laterally projecting wall which with a pair ofremovable stop brackets on opposite sides of the yoke forms a pair ofspring pockets in which leaf springs are supported and which after adraft impact return the device to a neutral position.

PATENTEU JUN 8 I97! 3; 583; 573

sum 1 or 2 MARVIN STA W ATT'X PATENTED JUN 8 [9n SHEET 2 BF 2 I l l J] ll i\ INVENTORS WILLIS H. KNIPPEL M v! AR BY/ TT'Y END-OF-RAILWAY-CARCUSHIONING INSTALLATION SUMMARY The primary object of the presentinvention is to provide an improved hydraulic cushioning installation inthe opposed ends of a center sill with a cushioning pocket whichincludes a rigid stop removed from the ends of the sill and cooperateswith a plurality of removable stop brackets for securing a hydrauliccylinder and piston assembly against longitudinal movement within thepocket upon draft and buffimpacts. The installation includes a rigidstop which is fixed within a pair of laterally aligned aperturesdisposed in longitudinally spaced relation from the ends of the centersill. The rigid stop is suitably welded to the center sill within theapertures and thus the stop arrangement permits the ready and quickadaptation of a standard center sill for end-of-car cushioning. Thus,railway cars of conventional design can be readily changed over toend-of-car cushioning since the apertures for the rigid stop are readilyaccomplished without removal of the center sill. Further, the cushionpocket is also provided with removable stop lugs which are insertedthrough apertures in the center sill which provide spring pockets onopposite sides of a longitudinally reciprocable coupler yoke.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view ofone end ofa center sill of a railway car having an end-of-car hydrauliccushioning installation;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the lines 3-3of FIG. 1', and

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a portion of a center sill anda fixed cushion stop prior to assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A railway car underframe is best disclosed in FIGS.1 and 2 and includes a center sill 11 having a top wall 12 and verticalsidewalls 13 connected thereto. The vertical walls 13 are provided attheir lower ends with outwardly projecting flanges 14. The center sill11 is provided at each of the opposite ends with a cushion pocketgenerally designated at 15. The opposite ends of the center sill 11 arealso provided with reinforcing structures 16.

A hydraulic cushioning unit 17 is disposed in a cushion pocket andincludes a base plate 18 connected to an open end cylinder 19. A piston20 is reciprocally mounted within the cylinder 19 and is connected to apiston rod 21 extending outwardly from the open end of the cylinder. Thecylinder 19 is suitably sealed by a flexible boot or reservoir 22 of atype shown in the Peterson application, Ser. No. 799,175 filed Feb. 14,I969. The cylinder 19 also is provided with a spring retainer collar 23supporting one end of the coil spring 23'.

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the center sill 11 at opposite endsthereof is provided with transversely aligned rectangular openings 24within which a stop block 25 is inserted. The stop block 25 includes abottom wall 26, sidewalls 27 and a top wall 28. As indicated in FIGS. 1through 3, welds 29 and 30 suitably connect the stop block 25 within theapertures 24.

As best shown in FIG. 1, the base plate 18 is seated against the stopblock 25 and thus is maintained within the cushion pocket 15. The centersill 11 is also provided with openings 31 on the other side of the baseplate 18 through which lugs 32 project. Brackets 33 to which lugs 32 areconnected are suitably supported on the vertical walls 13 withreinforcing plates 34. The base plate 18 is also provided withlongitudinally projecting lugs 25 which are disposed in slightly spacedrelation relative to the lugs 32. Thus the lugs 32 and the stop plate 28securely position the cylinder 19 against longitudinal displacement. Theforward ends of the center sill 11 are also provided with openings 36through which lugs 37 project and which are carried on brackets 38. Thebrackets 38 are also suitably removably connected to the corner sill 11.

A coupler housing 39 is slidably disposed in the cushion pocket 15 andincludes a cavity 40. A rear wall 41 on the coupler housing 39 includesan inner concave surface 42 which supports a connector element 43 inturn connected to the end of the piston rod 21. The coupler housing 39includes a con ventional bell-mouth 44 and a coupler 45 is suitablyconnected within the coupler housing 39 in conventional fashion. As bestshown in FIG. 2, a bottom plate 46 is removably secured to the flanges14 to enclose each cushion pocket 15.

As best shown in FIG. 1 the rear wall 41 also includes projectingelements 47 and a pair of leaf springs 48 are disposed on opposite sidesof the coupler housing 39 between the lugs 37 and the projectingelements 47.

THE OPERATION In the operation, as best shown in FIG. 1, a draft impacttoward the vertical line C causes movement of the piston 20 from theneutral position as indicated by the line I3 whereupon the leaf springs48 are compressed. The hydraulic operation of the cushioning device isbest disclosed in the aforementioned patent application and need not befurther described. After the draft impact the springs 48 return thepiston 20 to the position shown by the line B. Upon a buff impact,movement of the piston 20 is in the direction of the arrow, shown inFIG. 1, to the line A from the neutral position of the line I3.

The stop arrangement 25 can readily be provided in existing railroadcars in the field or in railway shops by the simple aperturing of thesides ofthe center sill to provide the openings 24. Similarly, theopenings 31 and 36 can likewise be created which, with the bracketarrangements, provide the desired cushioning pocket arrangement 15. Thusthe improved endof-car cushioning arrangement can readily beaccomplished with a minimum of rebuilding of the center sill orunderframe of the car. After the cushioning unit has been suitablyplaced in position suitably placed in position the bottom plate 46 isreapplied.

What we claim is:

l. A railway car having an underframe including a center sill providingat opposite ends of the car open end cushion unit pockets, said centersill comprising a top horizontal wall and vertical sidewalls connectedthereto and extending downwardly in relative inverted U-shapedconfiguration,

a hydraulic cushioning installation in each cushion pocket, including acylinder having a connecting base plate at one end thereof,

a piston assembly including a piston and rod slidably disposedlengthwise in said cylinder,

a coupler housing supported for sliding movement in said pocket andconnected to said rod for moving said piston assembly during buff anddraft impacts lengthwise within said cylinder from a neutral position toan operative position,

said housing having a rear wall and a spring disposed between said rearwall and said cylinder,

said sill having a buff and draft force stop arrangement to provide forendwise removal of the cushion unit, piston assembly and coupler housingfrom the cushion pocket comprising;

means anchoring said base plate on said center sill comprising a portionof said center sill having a pair of vertically extending aligned firstapertures longitudinally spaced on one transverse side of said baseplate in said sidewalls,

a rigid buff stop supported in said first apertures including avertically extending plate connected to said sill and restraining saidcylinder against lengthwise movement in one direction,

said sidewalls having a pair of aligned second apertures longitudinallyspaced on the opposite transverse side of said base plate, and

means for engagement of the abutment means therewith during a draftimpact.

2. The invention in accordance with claim 1,

said sidewalls having lower outwardly projecting flanges, said stopplate projecting outwardly of said sidewalls and being connected alongsubstantially the upper surface of said flanges.

1. A railway car having an underframe including a center sill providingat opposite ends of the car open end cushion unit pockets, said centersill comprising a top horizontal wall and vertical sidewalls connectedthereto and extending downwardly in relative inverted U-shapedconfiguration, a hydraulic cushioning installation in each cushionpocket, including a cylinder having a connecting base plate at one endthereof, a piston assembly including a piston and rod slidably disposedlengthwise in said cylinder, a coupler housing supported for slidingmovement in said pocket and connected to said rod for moving said pistonassembly during buff and draft impacts lengthwise within said cylinderfrom a neutral position to an operative position, said housing having arear wall and a spring disposed between said rear wall and saidcylinder, said sill having a buff and draft force stop arrangement toprovide for endwise removal of the cushion unit, piston assembly andcoupler housing from the cushion pocket comprising; means anchoring saidbase plate on said center sill comprising a portion of said center sillhaving a pair of vertically extending aligned first apertureslongitudinally spaced on one transverse side of said base plate in saidsidewalls, a rigid buff stop supported in said first apertures includinga vertically extending plate connected to said sill and restraining saidcylinder against lengthwise movement in one direction, said sidewallshaving a pair of aligned second apertures longitudinally spaced on theopposite transverse side of said base plate, and first removable draftstops projecting through said second apertures and restraining said baseplate against movement in an opposite direction, said sidewalls having apair of third aligned apertures longitudinally spaced forwardly of saidhousing rear wall, said housing rear wall having laterally projectingabutment means, and second removable draft stops projecting through saidthird apertures and in the path of movement of the abutment means forengagement of the abutment means therewith during a draft impact.
 2. Theinvention in accordance with claim 1, said sidewalls having loweroutwardly projecting flanges, said stop plate projecting outwardly ofsaid sidewalls and being connected along substantially the upper surfaceof said flanges.